Tuesday, March 11, 2003

New College Guide Lauds Washington College

Chestertown, MD, March 11, 2003 — Washington College has been ranked 9th among “100 Colleges That Are Better Than You Think” in the new college guide, Harvard Schmarvard: Getting Beyond the Ivy League to the College That Is Best for You, authored by Washington Post columnist and education reporter Jay Mathews and just released by Prima Publishing.

Mathews compiled his list of 100 colleges that deserve a closer look by America's college-bound students based on interviews and a survey of high school guidance counselors and teachers around the country.

“I have spent much of this book deriding the notion that successful marketing equals academic excellence and reminding readers that they should choose colleges based not on fame, but whether the schools fulfill their personal desires and dreams,” writes Mathews. He conducted his survey, he explains, by asking “counselors and teachers to tell me what their graduates, dropping by for a visit, had told them about under-appreciated schools. Each was asked to name as many as ten schools that had proven to be much better than their small reputations would suggest.”

With the results of this survey, Mathews compiled his list of “100 schools that deserve more attention than they are getting.” Ranking Washington College 9th in the national survey, Harvard Schmarvard found noteworthy the College's pre-med program and its ability to place its students in medical schools; its popular Washington Scholars program guaranteeing $10,000 annual tuition scholarships for National Honor Society students; and its “solid liberal arts education” on “an elegant and petite campus.”

“We are very proud to be recognized in this new college guide,” said Dr. John S. Toll, President of Washington College. “It validates the unique, engaged-learning experience that we offer our students, exemplified in the close student-teacher interaction and research that we maintain across the curriculum.”

Recent months also have seen Washington College move from Tier III to Tier II in the national liberal arts and sciences colleges rankings in the 2003 U.S. News and World Report America's Best Colleges guide.